About this ebook
The book highlights the pivotal role of the assembly of the durum wheat genome and its progenitor, wild emmer, to enhance our understanding of gene/QTL functions in polyploid wheat while contributing toward a more effective genomics-assisted breeding of wheat cultivars with a lower environmental footprint while ensuring high yield and grain quality.
The book describes the sequencing of wild emmer and durum wheat, the tuning of sequence coverage, gene expression, small RNAi and molecular fingerprinting for an informative profiling of genetic resources of tetraploid wheat. The remaining chapters illustrate how genomics and sequencing facilitate (i) the application of TILLING, (ii) mapping and meta-QTL analysis of drought and heat tolerance, head blight resistance, nitrogen-use efficiency and prolamins, (iii) genome editing, and (iv) organelle genomics.
Overall, readers will acquire knowledge on how best leverage the durum wheat genome based on, gene/QTL mapping and cloning, harnessing beneficial haplotypes and, ultimately, KASPTM-based marker-assisted breeding.
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About the author
Dr. Luigi Cattivelli, Director of the CREA Research Centre for Genomics and Bioinformatics in Fiorenzuolad’Arda and former Director of the Centre for Cereal Research in Foggia, co-chairs the Expert Working Group on Durum Wheat Genomics and Breeding. He was involved in the sequencing of wild emmer and bread wheat genomes and coordinated the sequencing of the durum wheat genome of cv. Svevo. He has collaborated with seed companies to develop wheat and barley breeding.
Dr. Aldo Ceriotti, Director of the Institute on Plant Biology and Biotechnology (CNR) in Milano, was involved in the sequencing of wild emmer and durum wheat. His research focuses on the synthesis of proteins in wheat with particular emphasis on glutenins and gliadins and their effects on bread quality. He has acted as President of the European Plant Science Organization (EPSO) and he has been actively involved in the activities of the Italian Platform “Plants for the Future”.
Dr. Assaf Distelfeld,Director of the Institute of Evolution and Professor at the Dept. of Evolutionary and Environmental Biology, University of Haifa, has coordinated the sequencing of wild emmer and has been involved in sequencing of durum wheat and bread wheat. His research focuses on wild cereal germplasm, especially wild emmer wheat, to understand the molecular mechanisms of wheat domestication. He also identified genetic factors with potential to increase wheat nutritional value andadaptation to various stress conditions.
Dr. Curtis Pozniak, Professor at the University of Saskatchewan and Director of the Crop Development Centre and member of the Scientific Board of the Wheat Initiative, coordinates the 10+ Wheat Pangenome project. He has been involved in the sequencing of wild emmer durum wheat and coordinated the bread wheat sequencing. He has also been involved in the sequencing of the barley genome. He coordinates the largest publicly funded wheat breeding project with a major focus on quality and disease resistance.
